Oregon WildBlog

Oregon Wildblog

Senator Ron Wyden is hosting another round of town hall meetings this month, offering you a great opportunity to let the senator know, in person, you oppose his plan for more clearcuts and fewer protections for wildlife on our public O&C lands and backyard forests.

I live on a 17-acre farm in Lobster Valley, near Alsea in Benton County. Our property lies along Lobster Creek, a tributary of the Alsea River and a haven for fly fisherman and angling enthusiasts. Our farm borders the Siuslaw National Forest and some private land, including a Christmas tree farm, and the O&C lands in our area are located about a mile up the Lobster Creek drainage.

When Mary and I arrived at the Joseph, Oregon rendezvous site, we joined others in pitching our tent in the backyard of a rustic, rental house, its brown paint faded by the weather. From the yard we had a view through the pines of the tip of nearby Mt. Joseph and the distant Zumwalt Prairie.

In the mid-1980s the organization now known as Oregon Wild was only a very small group, but despite our size, we resolved to end the logging of old-growth forests in Oregon. At the time, two square miles per week of Oregon's ancient forests were being clearcut.

We were desperate to make news in this pre-internet era, when daily newspapers were the sole papers of community record, and the majority of citizens actually read them.

I am – quite literally – a card-carrying wildlife advocate (it's my job title). Though not everyone is as big a wildlife geek as I, I'm comfortable knowing I stand with the vast majority of Americans in valuing native wildlife.

I'm lucky to spend my days working to protect the wildlands, wildlife, and waters that play an irreplaceable role in maintaining our quality of life.

As late summer begins to advance into fall, one of the most commonly seen wildflowers of the season is the late-blooming Aster. Members of the Sunflower Family, Asteraceae, the Greek word “aster” means “star” in reference to its supposedly star-like flowers.

Lilaeopsis occidentalis, otherwise known as Western Lilaeopsis, has no special common name - as the common observer may never see its delicately arranged, tiny flowers, or give it much notice at all. Thus, while little noticed or appreciated, I considered it to be a special nymph of streams and other wetland places, where I always greet its unexpected discovery with special warmth and delight!

Superficially, the Artist’s Conk looks much like last week’s featured bracket fungus species: the Red-belted Conk, Fomitopsis pinicola. The Artist’s Conk is perhaps only second in abundance to the Red-belt Conk, and has a similar grey, brown to black upper cap surface.